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The inclined viewer had to worry a little about Kai Schiller.

The left winger was lying on the floor of the Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin when almost the entire squad of the German national team threw themselves at him.

In almost the last second, Schiller scored the 25:25 against Sweden and thus saved the start of the Olympic qualifying tournament on Friday.

"We're still alive," said Bob Hanning, Vice President of the German Handball Federation (DHB).

And national coach Alfred Gislason added: "Now we have a final."

This final took place less than 24 hours after Schiller's heroic deed in the same place.

The game against Slovenia was only the second in the tournament, but it should have a decisive character.

Because only in the event of a win, that much was clear, the DHB selection would continue to have the best cards on eligibility for Tokyo.

"You can't play that much better"

The men of Gislason not only withstood this immense pressure, they even met it with a world-class performance.

Slovenia, after all fourth in the European Championship, didn't stand a chance.

Germany played themselves into a frenzy and came after a 22:12 half-time lead in the end to a 36:27.

“You can't play it much better,” said Markus Baur, 2007 world champion and now a ZDF expert, about the performance of his successors.

Strong support in goal: Andreas Wolff

Source: Getty Images

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In fact, there were no weaknesses to be found that day.

Seven weeks after the World Cup debacle with twelfth place in Egypt, the DHB team has improved significantly.

Thanks to the Kiel returnees around Hendrik Pekeler and Steffen Weinhold - they, like Patrick Wiencek, had been absent from the World Cup due to Corona - the defense was secure.

And goalkeeper Andreas Wolff, who had paused against Sweden on Friday, showed a strong performance behind him and robbed the opponent with a few parades early on the nerve.

Philipp Weber directed the attack brilliantly, so that success was never really in jeopardy.

Unlike against Sweden, when Germany remained almost seven minutes without a goal of their own at the beginning of the second half, the game against the Slovenes went smoothly in most phases.

Small technical errors after the break annoyed Gislason, but he could get over it.

With now 3: 1 points, the German team has pushed the gate wide open for Tokyo.

The last group game this Sunday (3:45 p.m., ZDF) is against Algeria, the supposedly weakest participant in the four-way tournament in the capital.

Since the top two nations can take part in the summer games, the prospects are more than rosy.